Youngbae entered the restaurant and made his way over to the bar. He saw Jiyong already seated there with a drink. They greeted each other with a tapping of hands and a brotherly hug before Youngbae sat down next to Jiyong and placed his order.

“Thanks for your help last night,” Jiyong said, sipping from his glass.

“No worries man.” Youngbae said. “I guess things are getting serious between you two.”

Jiyong shook his head. “It’s not what you think.”

Youngbae raised his brows, but Jiyong didn’t disclose anymore.

**

Dara had a smile on her face as she helped her mother make lunch. She was thinking of the night before and the time she’d spent with Jiyong. Every once in a while she would bite her lip to try and contain the grin that wanted to escape.

“I never knew you enjoyed cooking so much,” Mrs. Park said dryly, her eyes on the cabbage she was chopping.

Dara pursed her lips together, but it was fruitless. A smile broke out, bright as the sun outside. Her mother, recognizing the look of a woman in love, sighed and shook her head.

“Remember what I told you when you started dating, Jiyong. I expect you to keep that promise.”

Dara’s cheeks flushed pink but she nodded her head. “I remember… and I’m holding to that promise, mom.” She paused, her eyes lighting up as she leaned on the counter, her gaze on her mother. “Did you date anyone before you met appa?”

Mrs. Park slanted a look at Dara, noting the curious look on her daughter’s face before returning to her cooking. “What does that matter?” she asked. “I married your father.”

“I was just wondering…”

Her mother didn’t respond for several minutes but Dara continued to wait. Mrs. Park sighed. “I did.”

Dara sat up, surprise registering in her eyes. “Really?” Although she had asked Dara hadn’t expected her mother’s answer. She always assumed her father had been her mother’s first love.

“Who was he?”

Her mother’s hands paused, then resumed mixing the sauce she was making. “Just someone I knew when I was young.”

“You loved him?”

“At that time – yes.”

Dara grew silent, imagining her mother young and in love. “What happened?” she asked. “Why did you break up?”

Her mother’s hands stopped again, a distant look entering in her eyes, remembering another place and time. She blinked, a wistful smile touched her lips for a tiny second before returning to the present.

“We grew up. That’s what happened.”

**

Dara’s class ended first so she waited by the stairs outside for Bom, her coat pulled close. Winter was coming and she expected they would have their first snow soon. It made her think of Jiyong and she sighed wistfully. As the semester had progressed their schedules seemed to conspire to keep them apart. Most of their communication now was via text. He wasn’t even online very much anymore. She felt for him, carrying a full load of university courses and learning his family’s business on the side.

As for her, the modeling was coming along fine. She had just completed a CF for a cosmetic company, which had not been a part of her original contract, but had gone very well. Now her agency wanted her to do more CF’s as well as print ads. They also wanted her to consider extending her contract with them and sign on to work with their Japanese branch in Tokyo. She would have to travel back and forth between Japan and Seoul since she would still have her senior year of school left. Her other option would be to drop out of school and study for her GED instead. It was something she would have to discuss with her parents… and with Jiyong.

“Dara!” Bom ran up and slipped her arm through Dara’s. “Ohmigawd I thought Mr. Kang would keep us for another hour with the way he was going.” She pulled at Dara’s arm, hurrying her out of the gate as if she were afraid her teacher might show up and call her back to class.

Dara laughed at her friend as they made their way down to the subway entrance. They were headed to the music store at the mall to pick up the latest album from their favorite group, EXO. Dara had the hood of her coat pulled up and a scarf covering the lower half of her face. Beside her Bom wrapped her head with a long wool muffler and she wore a pair of dark glasses. It was a silly game they had, pretending to be idol stars out on the loose and trying to disguise themselves from their many imaginary fans. Although in Dara’s case she really did need the disguise since more and more she was being recognized by young people on the streets and approached to ask for her autograph or her photo snapped. She didn’t mind it, but on days like this when she was with Bom she rather have her privacy and enjoy her time with Bom without interruption.

The music store was crowded and Dara and Bom had to wait in a long line to be able to get in. They didn’t mind though as they stood waiting and talking. Dara suddenly felt Bom grab hold of her wrist in a tight grip. She looked at Bom to ask what was wrong when she noticed a look of shock in her friend’s eyes. Dara turned to see what she was staring at. Across the way, sitting at a table for two outside a café, Bom’s boyfriend Top was laughing, talking, and holding hands with another girl.

**

Dara lay in bed that night staring up at the ceiling. Her heart went out to Bom. The poor girl had been so hurt, she had just stood there staring at Top until Dara dragged her away. All the way home Bom hadn’t uttered one sound. But tears rolled down her cheeks one after another. Luckily Bom’s parents and her brother were not at home. She had been able to get Bom in and up to her room without any problems. Dara stayed with her, offering her comfort until she fell asleep, and then called her grandfather’s driver, Mr. Kim, to come pick her up.

What happened?

She reflected on past conversations with Bom, her worries that she and Top were growing apart. Now today, seeing Top with that other girl, it seemed as if Bom had been right.

‘No, I should give him a chance to explain first,’ Dara thought. Though the chances seemed slim she was hoping there was a logical explanation for what Bom and her had seen that day.

Her thoughts then turned to Jiyong and Dara felt her stomach twist. What if she and Jiyong faced the same fate? They hardly saw each other now because they were both busy with their own schooling and schedules. Was she and Jiyong also drifting apart?

Her heart said no – she still loved him as much as ever. But what about him? Did he still feel the same about her?

**

Jiyong rang the doorbell of Dara’s house and waited. The housekeeper opened the door and let him in. “Miss Dara is in her room,” she explained. “I’ll go get her.”

“If it’s alright, I’ll go up and see her,” Jiyong said. It was after 7pm and he came over right after work. He was hungry and tired and still had a lot of assignments to work on but something wasn’t right between him and Dara. She hadn’t been answering his texts the past few days. Sometimes when they were both busy it could be hours, sometimes a whole day, before they responded to each other. But she hadn’t said anything to him in almost a week. And when he called her yesterday and today she hadn't answered. Something was up.

He knocked and opened the door and saw her sitting at her desk with her schoolbooks open in front of her. She looked up when he entered, blinked, then put her pencil down.

“Hi.”

He closed the door behind him and stood there, gauging her actions.

“Hi.” She didn't say anything else or move.

Jiyong walked over to where she sat and squatted down next to her chair so that he was eye level with her. “How are you?” he asked.

Dara averted her eyes, not answering.

He reached over to tuck her hair behind her ear, and she flinched away. His fingers paused, confusion in his eyes at her reaction. And then she sighed, realizing what she did. Standing, she tugged on his arm to have him stand as well. Once he had straightened Dara held onto the front of his shirt and leaned into him, pressing her cheek to his chest.

Jiyong sighed, relieved, and pulled her closer.

“What’s going on?”  His hand rubbed her back in a slow up and down motion. He could sense she was upset about something but he didn’t know what it was.

“Have you talked to Top?” she asked, after a minute.

Top? Jiyong shook his head. “I haven’t seen him in a while. Why?”

Dara led him over to the couch. She curled up beside him, feet tucked underneath, her head leaning against his shoulder.

“He broke up with Bom,” she said in a small voice.

“What? When?” Jiyong didn’t’ know anything about it. He listened as Dara told him about what she and Bom had seen at the mall, the devastation Bom felt, and then the confrontation she’d had with Top. He hadn’t denied anything, he only apologized to Bom, saying he was sorry.

Jiyong sighed, his eyes closed. He’d worried something like this would happen. There were a lot of girls that flocked around Top at the university and Jiyong had warned him that he needed to be careful.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?” he asked.

Dara was silent but she turned her face and pressed it against his shoulder. She covered their entwined fingers with her other hand.

Jiyong reached over and tilted her face up. “Baby, look at me,” he said, when she tried to avoid his eyes.

He saw the worry in her eyes, the questions she was unwilling to voice out loud. With his thumb he caressed her lips. “That won’t happen to us,” he told her.

“How do you know?” she asked, doubt lacing her voice.

“Because I’m not willing to give you up,” he answered.

“Bom told me several months ago she felt that she and Top were growing apart. I told her that was impossible, that Top was crazy about her. And now look at them.”

“Dara, we’re not Top and Bom. Don’t compare us to them.”

“I know. I’m trying not to, but I just keep thinking that…”

He pressed his fingers to her lips, silencing her. She looked back at him, a stubborn frown on her face. Jiyong sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. After a minute he nodded reluctantly, and pulled back, his eyes meeting hers.

“Alright. I get what you're saying... There’s no guarantee that what we feel now will always be the case. But don't you think that relationships takes more than love to survive? We have to be committed to each other and trust each other. And we have to talk to each other if something's wrong. If something’s bothering you, don’t hide it from me. Talk to me. I promise to listen. That's the only way we can make this work. My parents' marriage was almost destroyed because they didn't talk to each other about those things that were bothering them. I don't want that to happen to us."

She was quiet, her eyes searching his. "I don't like that we hardly see each other or even talk now days," she finally confided. "We're both so busy there's hardly any time for the two of us to spend together. But I don't want to seem like a needy girlfriend."

"I don't like that we rarely spend time together either. I think we need to fix that. The answer lies with us. If we're important enough to each other than we have to make a little sacrifice and effort to be able to spend time together, don't you think?"

"Agreed."

He smiled at her, then reached in his pocket for his phone. He flipped it open and scrolled to his calendar. "So what do you say we start looking at some ways we can spend more time together?"

Dara got up and went to get her phone and the two compared schedules. They spent the next thirty minutes discussing it. Since they were both in school and needed study time, they carved out Thursday evenings as their study nights and committed to spending that time together either at his place or hers. They would have dinner together and then spend the evening studying but at least they would be together. They also agreed that Jiyong would pick her up every weekend from her work schedule and they could spend some time that way. Finally they agreed to recommit themselves to their private Twitter account by posting a photo daily, either a selfie or something that would hint at what they were doing or how they were feeling. They sealed the deal by taking a photo together and Jiyong posted it to their account.

"This account will be like our photo diary for our children," Jiyong said, and Dara gazed at him, her heart racing.

"Children?" she asked. "Are you saying that you're going to marry me in the future Kwon, Jiyong?"

"Duh," he answered, laughing while she pinched him. But she was giddy with his intent.

He stood to leave, pulling her up with him. He gave her a long hug, whispering in her ear. "I love you, Dara."

"Me too," she answered, holding his hand as they walked out of her room and downstairs.

"Hey, we have a ball coming up. I was wondering if you'd like to go?" he asked.

"Me? You want to take me to collge dance?" she asked, excited at the prospect.

"Well who else would I take other than my beautiful model girlfriend? And does that mean you're not planning on asking me as your date to your school dances?"

"But it's high school. Are you sure you want to attend that?"

"I'll go as long as you're there and we're together," he answered.

"Sounds like a plan then," she answered, smiling happily.

**

The weeks passed and Jiyong and Dara's relationship grew stronger. Their schedule remained as busy as ever but they stuck to their agreement to carve out time for each other. They met twice a week for their study time.  On Saturdays Jiyong made sure he was available to pick Dara up after her modeling schedule and they would spend time together. Even if that meant just hanging out at the park, strolling along the riverside, or visiting Jaejoong's grave, they committed themselves to being together.

Online they posted at least one photo a day on their private account. Sometimes the photos were fun, others serious, and still others containing a simple message like "Thinking of you".

Jiyong took Dara to the ball at the university. She loved that he wanted to show her off to his friends. There were several photos taken of them and posted online letting it be known that Park Sandara, the model, was dating Mr. Kwon Jiyong, sole heir of Kwon Enterprises. And when her high school ball rolled around Dara invited Jiyong to be her . They had just as much fun there as they did at the university ball. Bom envied the strength of their relationship but she was happy for them as well. She and Top had not spoken since their break up but Bom was now dating someone else and had moved on. Another school year ended and Dara approached her senior year in high school.

She had spoken with her parents and with Jiyong, telling them of her desire to extend her modeling contract but she didn't like that it would mean she'd have to travel back and forth to Japan now. Her parents wanted her to stay in school and finish it, they didn't want her to sit out her senior year and take the GED. Jiyong agreed to support Dara in whatever decision she and her parents made. He also had an annoucement to make to Dara. He had decided to leave school that year and enter the military for his mandatory service. Dara felt her heart drop when he told her that. She didn't want him to leave.

"I'm going to have to serve it sooner or later," he told her. "I'd rather do it now. It's a good time. By the time I come back you will have graduated from high school and had an extra year of deciding what you want to do with your modeling career. I already know what I want in my life but I think I owe it to you to have some time to think things over and decide what you want."

"You make it sound like you're breaking up with me," she said, feeling even worse. They were alone at his house, his parents having gone out for the evening.

He took her hand in his and took a box out of his pocket. "Actually, it's the opposite," he said, and he opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. She gasped, and looked up at him with a questioning look. "I told you I already know what it is what I want in life and that's you Dara. I want you by my side as my wife, but I'm not proposing yet. Instead I'm giving you this for safekeeping. This is my commitment to you. When I return in two years, if your feelings for me have not changed in that time, then I will officially propose to you and ask you to be my wife."

 A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and for your comments and ecouragement. I think I should be able to wrap this up in about two more chapters. Hengsho Applers!